Australia #1 in everything, including Floods

[SuperDuper! 230]

Hope no one gets hurt.

'Beast of a storm', record floods hit Australia

Mar 7 05:40 AM US/Eastern

Melbourne was bracing for more bad weather Sunday after a "beast of a storm" ripped through Australia's second largest city, bringing with it hailstones the size of tennis balls.

The mini-cyclone which smashed into the regional capital with winds of up to 100 kilometres (62 miles) an hour was an event which had likely not been seen since early last century, Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Kevin Parkyn said.

"The weather system that brought the damage to Melbourne is known in meteorological terms as a supercell thunderstorm, an organised beast of a storm that once it gets going tends to last more than your average thunderstorm," he said.

The fierce storm, which flooded city streets, saw some 26 millimetres (one inch) of rain fall on Melbourne within an hour Saturday while other areas recorded up to 70 millimetres.

In the city centre the National Gallery of Victoria suffered flooding, while the Docklands Stadium was among those buildings damaged during the storm, which washed out horse races.

Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Wasyl Drosdowsky said the hail that hit in one suburban area was up to 10 centimetres (four inches) in diameter.

"(It was) tennis ball size roughly," he said. "As far as we can tell, that's close to the biggest hail we've seen in Melbourne."

More than 4,000 people contacted emergency services for help as the hail left the city blanketed in what looked like snow.

With more violent storms on the way late Sunday and Monday, Victorian Premier John Brumby urged people to be careful, particularity in areas hit by bushfires a year ago which have unstable trees weakened by the flames.

"There have been no reported fatalities or serious injuries. For that we are grateful," he said.

"People really should take great care... and make sure we put this focus on protecting life and protecting public safety because all the advice is that it will be a pretty difficult period."

As the city readied for further violent storms Sunday and Monday, once-in-a-century floods were peaking in the state of Queensland in the country's northeast, parts of which have been in drought for almost a decade.

Townships in the state's cotton-growing south were cut off by rising flood waters and in St George the Balonne River reached 13.5 metres (44 feet), its highest level since records began in 1890.

Queensland Premier Anna Bligh said the cost of the flooding would be in the hundreds of millions of dollars, as there had been major damage to highways and rail lines had been washed away.

"This is a massive water event which has smashed all the records known here in the southwest," she told reporters Sunday as she toured St George.

"All this water ultimately is going to mean great things for local (farmers) but there is a lot of pain to be felt in these communities before we can see total recovery."

In the nearby tiny town of Nindigully, residents were marvelling at the amount of water surrounding the rural outpost.

"Overall, we are happy to have experienced this flood because of the beauty of vast expanses of water through the bush that you never forget," Steve Burns, the owner of the 146-year-old Nindigully Pub told AAP.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Anybody else notices the increasing occurrence of extreme weather around the globe? My folks in Germany are just now slowly starting to thaw out of the worst winter in decades. Horrendous storms have been observed across Europe lately. We know the Northeaster US had an interesting winter - and it doesn't seem to be quite over yet. Florida has seen the oddest winter in decades - we're just now cracking the 70's again and it's March for fcuks sake. Now this in Australia and my wife tells me on the phone today that it's fcuking cold and rainy in Addis Ababa this time a year which is unheard of.

Edited March 8, 2010 by Mr. Big Dog

[Ali G. 37]

Anybody else notices the increasing occurrence of extreme weather around the globe? My folks in Germany are just now slowly starting to thaw out of the worst winter in decades. Horrendous storms have been observed across Europe lately. We know the Northeaster US had an interesting winter - and it doesn't seem to be quite over yet. Florida has seen the oddest winter in decades - we're just now cracking the 70's again and it's March for fcuks sake. Now this in Australia and my wife tells me on the phone today that it's fcuking cold and rainy in Addis Ababa this time a year which is unheard of.

People were able to build snow men out of the hail. Moscow, DC and Beijing broke snow records. The Atlantic ocean was the warmest on record last year.

What many of the skeptics fail to realize is that this exactly what is predicted by global warming. The weather is going to fluctuate from one extreme to the next.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

What many of the skeptics fail to realize is that this exactly what is predicted by global warming. The weather is going to fluctuate from one extreme to the next.

Yep, let there be snow and Hoax News is going to go all out attacking the global warming theory despite the fact that colder than usual weather as well as warmer than usual weather - more extreme weather patterns - as a result of changing ocean currents due to the melting of the arctic ice cap is precisely what's been predicted as a result of global warming. But as long as people equate weather and climate, it's like yelling at a wall. Won't change a thing.

Edited March 8, 2010 by Mr. Big Dog